In Times of Sorrow
by oceanicsix
Summary: A glimpse at Claire's time alone on the island. Claire/Man in Black and Claire/Charlie. Read and Review!
1. Desperation

**In Times of Sorrow**

**A story about Claire Littleton, and the time she spent alone on the island. Claire/Man in Black with a bit of Claire/Charlie. It's a much different writing style than I usually attempt, choppier that mine. Attempting to write like a crazy woman, attempting to write like Claire.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own LOST, I'm merely a passionate fan. **

In the beginning, it was very hard. They had her baby, the Others. Her father told her so. Only, he was never _really_ her father, it was just easier to pretend that he was. Even worse, He was gone. Charlie. Jack told her it was an accident. It wasn't. It was the Others. They killed Charlie. They took her baby. They killed Charlie. They took her baby...

And so it went, for about two months. She kept herself sane by hunting down the Others, picking them off one by one. Finally, Christian put his foot down.

"Claire, the Others have your baby. You aren't getting it back. You need to accept this. Why don't you come stay with me for a while? I'll take care of you." He placed his hand on her arm, in that strange way he always did.

She glanced tiredly up at him, hair falling in stringy ropes around her face. "You aren't my father, Chri-whoever you are."

He smiled softly and looked down at her, squeezing her shoulder. Comforting her like a child. "I know. I can be anyone I want to be, Claire." Before her eyes, he changed into a tall man with dark brown hair, not much older than her. Her eyes lit up and she smiled crookedly.

"Yes, yes I like that." And she did. She needed a companion on the island. Not her father. Someone else. Someone like..."Can you become Ch-...Hurley?" Not Charlie. She wasn't to that point yet. She was still sane enough to know it wouldn't really _be _Charlie at all.

He merely raised his brows at her, shaking his head. "We both know you don't want Hurley, Claire. Come now, choose wisely."

She tried, several times, to ask the man for Charlie. Each time, she stopped herself.

Things were easier, this way. No pain. She didn't ask who the dark-haired man was, and he never told her. She stayed with him. By his side. He could protect her. He cared about her. He told her so every night, his body moving rhythmically with hers.

She had the strangest dreams when she was with him. Waking dreams. She dreamed incredible, impossible things. She dreamed that he was the smoke monster that she had feared so many months ago. She dreamed that he would whisper things in the night. Talk of escape. Destruction. Nonsensical mumbling, quickly moving to the back of her mind.

Finally, she broke down. As she lay, naked and limp against the nameless man's still form, she whispered, "Charlie. I need Charlie. Please."

**End of Chapter 1! As of right now, I want to continue with it. I think it _could_ technically end there, but I'll see what happens if I keep going. Please review, tell me if you think I should fix anything/continue with more chapters!**


	2. Charlie

**In Times of Sorrow**

**Ch 2: Charlie**

"Charlie!" A broken cry, echoing around the dense jungle. He was there. Right there. Standing in front of her. Close enough to touch. And she did touch him. He felt the same. Sounded the same. Smelled the same. Tasted the same.

Her lips were slightly swollen when she pulled away from him, eyes brimming with tears. No man could imitate this. This was Charlie. _Her_ Charlie.

Granted, he did get frustrated with her sometimes. After they made love, when she insisted on holding him close. A tiny flicker of annoyance, almost imperceptible on his perfect face. She would croon and hold his face in her hands. _Her _Charlie. The Others could not take him away from her, not like Aaron.

She crouched behind a tree, ready to strike. Charlie was at her side, whispering instructions in her ear. "Kill the two men on the outside first, they look weaker..." A slight frown on her face, she glanced at him in confusion. In times like those, he didn't look like himself. There was a certain glint in his eye that she didn't remember from before. And she seemed to remember something else. A man...her father. No, not her father. But who was it? It hurt her head to think like that. Of course the man crouched next to her was Charlie, her lover. Who else could he be?

Shaking her head, she aimed and fired, taking down three men with her gun, two with her knife. One got away, but Charlie told her not to worry about him. Then he ran off. She heard a strange metallic noise. One she remembered from somewhere. A pillar of black smoke. A monster. Her father. No! Not her father! And this...this man, this _thing_. Not Charlie...not Charlie. Panic coiled, snakelike, in her stomach. She ran back to camp. Her camp, not his.

"Catch a falling star and p-put it in y-your pocket...n-never let it f-fade away..." Eyes wide with fear, she rocked back-and-forth on the ground, knees pulled up to her chest, singing. "C-catch a falling star and p-put it in your pocket, s-s-save it for a r-r-rainy d-day..." He lied to her. He told her he loved her. He told her he was Charlie. _Her _Charlie.

A voice echoed through the jungle. Not her voice. Charlie's voice. "Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket..." Suddenly, he appeared behind her out of nowhere, arms snaking around her waist and lips at her ear. "Never let it fade away..." Even then, his tongue darting out to ghost over her throat made her shiver in ecstasy. She almost forgot her fear. Almost.

"You aren't Charlie. You're...that man. That monster. Evil." Suddenly, her head snapped to the side, under the force of a mighty blow. Eyes wide and frightened, she gazed up at her tormentor.

"Don't say things like that, Claire. You'll just get yourself hurt. Come back with me. Stay with me, Claire." He held his hand out to her, expectant. Wordlessly, she rose to her feet and took it, walking blindly with him back to his camp.

That night, he kissed her as he never had before. As he pulled back, Claire imagined that she saw a thick black cloud pouring from his mouth to hers.

But, of course that wasn't true. After all, it was Charlie that kissed her. _Her _Charlie.


	3. Catch a Falling Star

**In Times of Sorrow**

**Ch. 3: Catch a Falling Star**

"Claire?" The voice was distant, but she would know it anywhere. Charlie. Coming to rescue her, no doubt. She ran and ran, sure that the beast was following her. It was a massive thing, a sleek black panther, tall as a tree.

It's soft, panting breath sounded like nothing more than a heavy gust of wind...but she knew better.

On an on she ran, starting to grow tired. Starting to grow careless. A sudden, blinding pain shot through her leg and she fell to the jungle floor, her frail leg snapping with a sickening crunch. She managed to croak out one word before her world became black. "Charlie..."

"Claire? Dammit! Claire!" His footsteps sounded terribly loud in her ears, each one sending a burst of pain through her body. She glanced down to find herself caught in a bear trap. One she hardly even remembered setting. "_Charlie..._" It was a miracle she took talk, her leg twisted at an odd angle with blood spilling onto the grass. In the blink of an eye, a cobra coiled around her ankle, rising to full height and hissing down at her. Fear sent her scrambling backward, blinded again by the burning pain in her leg. "Claire, what are you doing?" The voice was calm. Patient. What was _she_ doing? What was HE doing? Couldn't he see the cobra poised, ready to strike?

The crazed woman gazed into the distance, into nothing. "Charlie, kill it! Kill it!" With a long sigh, he crouched by her side and pinned her writhing body firmly to the ground with his arm, working to get her out of the trap.

"Claire, dear, there's nothing there." That patient tone again. Calm, soothing. But...the panther! She jerked her head around to search wildly for it, earning herself a rare, harsh smack from Charlie. "Claire, dammit, stay STILL! Nothing is there." The soothing tone is gone. The icy tone replaced it. The one that made her curl into herself and close her eyes. Like now. And then, after a slight pause, the familiar annoyed sigh. A soft kiss on the forehead. Suddenly, she was out of the trap. He set her leg in a makeshift cast. Helped her to her feet.

The panther occupied her thoughts for the rest of the day. Scared her. Was she going crazy? Of course not. Charlie wouldn't let that happen.

Maybe she was sick. Like the Others. Needed to be killed, for her own good. Bringing it up with Charlie earned another slap. She decided to forget about it.

The next week, she forgot about the panther.

"Claire?" She looked up from the rabbit she was skinning, a dull throb in her slowly healing leg.

"Yes, Charlie?" She scooted a bit closer to him, earning a pat on the head. She giggled softly and nuzzled her head into his hand.

"I want you to kiss me." That had become a rare privilege, kisses from Charlie. Without a second thought, she leaned forward and kissed him fiercely, dropping the rabbit. As he pulled back, that black cloud protruded from his mouth, pouring into hers. She ignored it. No doubt, it wasn't real, anyway.

He rocked her to sleep that night, singing softly to her. Her song. Aaron's song. That night, she dreamed that she _could _catch a falling star. She wished on every one of them. To go home. To have Aaron back. To keep Charlie, forever.

And she would. Because he loved her.


	4. Chapter 4: Man in Black

**In Times of Sorrow**

**Ch. 4: Man in Black**

"Charlie?" Her voice is tired. Her throat is scratchy. He isn't here. Charlie. He said he would meet her here. He _promised_. "Ch-Charlie?"

"I'm right here, Claire." Not his voice, it isn't...isn't his voice. She screws up her eyes in concentration, walking toward the voice. She's heard it before. Where? A voice whispers in the back of her head. _Lock_. Lock? That doesn't make sense. Where is the key? She holds her head in her hands, stumbling into someone's open arms. A familiar embrace.

_Not Lock. Locke...Locke. John Locke._ "John? Where is Charlie, John?" She pounds her tiny, lethal fists on his chest, but he doesn't move an inch.

"Claire, it's me." She steps away from him and timidly meets his gaze. It is. Charlie..John...she doesn't know what to call him anymore. She curls her fingers into the fabric of his shirt, a timid smile on her face. Well, if this is Charlie, then...

"Kiss me, J-...kiss me, Charlie." She stands on her toes and parts her lips slightly, her arms snaking slowly around his neck. Something flashes in his eyes as he holds fast to her.

"No, Claire. We can't anymore." What was that in his eyes? Regret? Anger?

"Why not, Charlie?...John." He shakes his head and pushes her slightly away.

"We aren't doing this anymore, Claire. I don't feel that way for you. Never have."

The world is collapsing. Everything is disappearing, even John. Surely, this is a nightmare. Black smoke. She covers her ears desperately to block out a strange metallic clicking sound, filling her head. "John...John!" Rushing wind. The smoke is gone. John is back.

"You're right. I shouldn't kill you. You've been..." He smiles darkly and runs the back of his hand along her cheek, eliciting a sigh from her. "...useful. I need you, Claire." He presses her lips almost affectionately to her forehead.

She shakes her head and clenches her hands into fists, taking half a step back from him. "W-what do you want me to do?"

His eyes turn solid black, smoke starting to pour from his mouth. "I want you to help me get off of this damn island, Claire." John is gone again, replaced by the black smoke.

She nods and reaches out a hand to the smoke, entranced rather than frightened. "Of...of course I will. Anything for you." The smoke...John..._Charlie_ disappears in the jungle, leaving her alone while she whispers, "I love you..."

**A/N: Don't hate, I was totally watching a movie while I wrote the majority of this, so...yeah I honestly don't know if it's shit. Ah. Hope you like it. Read and review!**


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